It was the easiest hundred pounds I ever lost. Back in the 90's, I used fen-phen (phen-fen?) for a year and worked out like a beast on the treadmill and weight bench, finally losing about ninety pounds. This time, exercise was relatively minimal and the bulk of the weight came off in about 4 to 5 months.

Maintenance has been an issue but I've stayed committed and based on some of the fits that I've seen on this forum, I'm thinking of trying to drop from 170 lbs. (I'm just over 5'9") to 160 lbs.

nothing like the boys above, but I am pretty proud of myself lately. I have dropped 8 kilo (~18lbs) in about 3 mths, and put on a bunch of muscle as well. I documented the first part of it out in my 'kicks my own ass' thread when I really went hard on the diet. I havent kept the kamikaze drink-water-only and salad-sandwich-for-lunch levels up, but I am certainly eating a lot better than I used to, and at the gym 3-4 times a week doing cardio, major muscle group lifting, and boxing, as well as some light cycling a couple times a week.

Some impressive weight loss in this thread, hoping it will serve as an inspiration. I had a horrendous day of eating yesterday: donuts for breakfast, philly steak and soda for lunch, Burger King for dinner and some chocolate peanut butter ice cream to top it all off. I feel gross even typing that. God knows how many calories that was.

Anyway, I think a good first step would to be to try and break my junk food habit. Any suggestions on how to get started with that?

As mm said, learn to cook. You can bake a lot of chicken at once, and its pretty much all healthy chicken. Another benefit of that is women like men who know how to cook, and you'd be surprised by how fun cooking can be once you get good at it.

I'm now down to 90 lbs lost and have turned the corner to trying to gain muscle. Eating a lot of protein and shakes etc. Also- GREAT job Digmenow for both you and the lady. Having a fitness buddy must be great! That was the only thing that was really lacking from my weight loss journey and there's nothing quite like a shared goal to keep a relationship strong.

I second the cooking remark but I would say, as far as kicking the junk food habit, that there are two considerations:

1. Strategy beats willpower any day. The easiest way to stop consuming is to stop buying it. Don't get it at the grocery store, don't keep it in your house, don't put yourself in situations where you'll be repeatedly expected to eat junk food. I don't care what anyone says, we have a finite amount of willpower and we typically overestimate exactly how strong it actually is. The only way to consistently succeed at this is to have long-term strategies in place that make it the path of least-resistance. That is, it has to be HARD and INCONVENIENT to go against your dieting goals.
2. I cook almost the exact same thing every day- I found a couple foods I really liked and I make them consistently so I have predictability and ease of calorie counting. I know that doesn't work for everyone, but it sure does make shopping for a single guy easier if you just buy the same thing every time in regular predetermined amounts. Since I consume a high-protein diet, I've picked up grilling as a way to make a lot of food that fits into my diet and that I really enjoy. I grill up four split chicken breasts (almost a pound each) every Sunday and eat them during the week for my snacks, all while giving me an excuse to throw some lump charcoal in the chimney starter and fire up the Weber. So not only are good choices the path of least resistance, but I get to do something I really enjoy along the way.

Anyhow feel free to ask me any questions if you want with regards to weight loss.. I highly recommend anything by Lyle MacDonald (www.bodyrecomposition.com) as well to understand the science behind nutrition in a way that seems geared to the iGent crowd.

I'm now down to 90 lbs lost and have turned the corner to trying to gain muscle. Eating a lot of protein and shakes etc. Also- GREAT job Digmenow for both you and the lady. Having a fitness buddy must be great! That was the only thing that was really lacking from my weight loss journey and there's nothing quite like a shared goal to keep a relationship strong.

I second the cooking remark but I would say, as far as kicking the junk food habit, that there are two considerations:

1. Strategy beats willpower any day. The easiest way to stop consuming is to stop buying it. Don't get it at the grocery store, don't keep it in your house, don't put yourself in situations where you'll be repeatedly expected to eat junk food. I don't care what anyone says, we have a finite amount of willpower and we typically overestimate exactly how strong it actually is. The only way to consistently succeed at this is to have long-term strategies in place that make it the path of least-resistance. That is, it has to be HARD and INCONVENIENT to go against your dieting goals.
2. I cook almost the exact same thing every day- I found a couple foods I really liked and I make them consistently so I have predictability and ease of calorie counting. I know that doesn't work for everyone, but it sure does make shopping for a single guy easier if you just buy the same thing every time in regular predetermined amounts. Since I consume a high-protein diet, I've picked up grilling as a way to make a lot of food that fits into my diet and that I really enjoy. I grill up four split chicken breasts (almost a pound each) every Sunday and eat them during the week for my snacks, all while giving me an excuse to throw some lump charcoal in the chimney starter and fire up the Weber. So not only are good choices the path of least resistance, but I get to do something I really enjoy along the way.

Anyhow feel free to ask me any questions if you want with regards to weight loss.. I highly recommend anything by Lyle MacDonald (www.bodyrecomposition.com) as well to understand the science behind nutrition in a way that seems geared to the iGent crowd.

Yeup, key is to prepare all your food in your own kitchen, so you can control what actually goes in your body. I lost around 20 pounds in 3 months, just trying to add muscle now. Will throw up pics when I get around to it.

A lack of willpower is not what's causing individuals to be unable to lose weight, nor is it what's causing Americans to suffer from obesity. Granted, some people will have more difficulty with losing weight than others. But this does not imply that it is a lack of willpower that is the determining factor.